MRI / CT Scans of my (Meth) Brain

[December Flower]

I still have one MRI outstanding, this was from over 10 years ago, just after I had an absolutely horrifying car accident. I still need to get that one, I'm working on it...

And I've been off Meth for 9 months now, so I guess I can have another MRI done here soon? But you need an EEG or something now? Which would you rather me obtain? And how would I go about (fabricating) an injury such that I could obtain one under insurance coverage?

The general issue with your premise, and I have told you that on multiple occasions,
is that you want to prove how positive Meth has been for you, while
A) knowing how negative it's been for you
B) trying to prove something that has been disproven on numerous occasions
and C) are/had been so much under the influence, that I don't even know if you would accept any opinions that don't prove your point. you had countless appearances on the forum where you managed to stay entirely incoherent; no offense.

I would rather have you go on with sobriety and keep getting yourself back on track.
Do not injure yourself to get tests covered, that's absolutely insane.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

This scan is almost 2 years old. Might wanna get one in 2022 ( not 2020 ) if you really want answers. This thread is very borderline acklack.

Already had to warn you in NMI ( verbally ).

I understand you are freshly back but your obsession with methamphetamine is still pretty strong.

 

[thegreenhand]

Do you want to know more about the structure of your brain? Then MRI is the way to go
Do you want to know more about the functionality of your brain? Then you want an EEG

at some level this is true. MRI and fMRI have much better spatial resolution than an EEG. and an EEG has much better temporal resolution than fMRI

but like skorpio noted, are you able to accurately predict phenotypic changes from neuroimaging?

i'm not sure you can. one of the main criticisms of psychiatry is that they lack empirical biomarkers to make diagnoses (instead they mostly come form the patient's words). if we could reliably predict behavioral changes from any form of neuroimaging, i can assure you the psychiatrists would have been all over it by now

 

[Skorpio]

but like skorpio noted, are you able to accurately predict phenotypic changes from neuroimaging?

Full disclosure I've got a friendly rivalry with an fMRI wonk who I lived with in college. We both kind of throw shade at each others work (cell lines and mice arent applicable to human disease vs human studies are necessarily observational).

 

[acklac7]

It's both very interesting. Over 10 years ago, were you taking meth, then?

Nope. I only used Meth from (late) 2018 - (late) 2021.

Do you want to know more about the structure of your brain? Then MRI is the way to go
Do you want to know more about the functionality of your brain? Then you want an EEG

Hmm, functionality, most likely.

The general issue with your premise, and I have told you that on multiple occasions,
is that you want to prove how positive Meth has been for you, while
A) knowing how negative it's been for you
B) trying to prove something that has been disproven on numerous occasions
and C) are/had been so much under the influence, that I don't even know if you would accept any opinions that don't prove your point. you had countless appearances on the forum where you managed to stay entirely incoherent; no offense.

Oh, understood. I know it's caused some damage as of late, I'm not denying that anymore (I'm also not necessarily looking to prove how (solely) positive meth has been anymore). I honestly, wholeheartedly, would like any and all feedback, and I mean that.

 

[acklac7]

This scan is almost 2 years old. Might wanna get one in 2022 ( not 2020 ) if you really want answers. This thread is very borderline acklack.

Already had to warn you in NMI ( verbally ).

I understand you are freshly back but your obsession with methamphetamine is still pretty strong.

Yep, I intend to get another MRI here down the road in a year or so once I've been clean for a while.

 

[Electrum1]

Take B12. It's good for the brain and is water soluble so you can take a lot of it

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Take B12. It's good for the brain and is water soluble so you can take a lot of it

This is great advice. I have a B12 deficiency and I have never touched meth so he needs it even more.

I was surprised at how many people don't actually get enough B12 and don't even know it unless they get a blood draw because its asymptomatic.

 

[thegreenhand]

Full disclosure I've got a friendly rivalry with an fMRI wonk who I lived with in college. We both kind of throw shade at each others work (cell lines and mice arent applicable to human disease vs human studies are necessarily observational).

Fair enough

I’m still skeptical of claims that things like depression, addiction, etc. can be reliably seen in neuroimaging

I think they can be useful research tools, but for making diagnoses I’m not convinced

 

[Fornax55]

You were in constant psychosis from doing 200 mg a day? Like.. two points worth?
Something's not adding up here...
I did about 200 mg this morning and I'm ready for a nap now. I do have quite the tolerance after 6 months of usage but I'm far from psychosis. Aside from all those vocal chops and 4/4 beats that are constantly competing for space in my brain vs. my internal dialogue. But I usually just transcribe them into Ableton or some music production app on my phone if I'm out and about. Eat, sleep, horrible edema on the feet, repeat.

 

[acklac7]

You were in constant psychosis from doing 200 mg a day? Like.. two points worth?
Something's not adding up here...

I wholeheartedly agree. I’m not sure what’s going on with my brain, but for whatever reason I slip into psychosis rather easily? It’s weird, nowadays all it takes is 100mg/point and I slip into psychosis after about 10 days of constant use. I really don’t know what’s behind it, because 100mg isn’t all that much, just the stuff tends to drive me batshit crazy anymore, even in small amounts. Maybe it’s due to the fact I’m bi-polar? I’m not sure…

 

[Electrum1]

I wholeheartedly agree. I’m not sure what’s going on with my brain, but for whatever reason I slip into psychosis rather easily? It’s weird, nowadays all it takes is 100mg/point and I slip into psychosis after about 10 days of constant use. I really don’t know what’s behind it, because 100mg isn’t all that much, just the stuff tends to drive me batshit crazy anymore, even in small amounts. Maybe it’s due to the fact I’m bi-polar? I’m not sure…

That amount fkd me up even before I stepped it up a lot and totally lost my shit. I think it's easier to reach that level after being there before

Remember Michelle F? She did a bunch of coke and freaked out, then after that she couldn't do it anymore, because even one line would bring her back to losing her shit right away

It took me a while to get to that point, but once I did, it was way easy to trigger again, even with small amounts

 

[Fornax55]

Interesting. I guess I also forgot to ask about the purity. 200 mg of pharmaceutical grade meth is what I would consider not-quite-a-fuckload, but pretty close.

Word to the fact that it becoes easier to trigger though. That seems to unfortunately be the case with all things drug-related. Although some of hte positive things too :D But i've actually started developing psychosis since making my last post here. I've always experienced some psychotoc\-esque symptoms\ but \now whenever ismoke meth \for a day I start

 

[acklac7]

Interesting. I guess I also forgot to ask about the purity. 200 mg of pharmaceutical grade meth is what I would consider not-quite-a-fuckload, but pretty close.

Word to the fact that it becoes easier to trigger though. That seems to unfortunately be the case with all things drug-related. Although some of hte positive things too :D But i've actually started developing psychosis since making my last post here. I've always experienced some psychotoc\-esque symptoms\ but \now whenever ismoke meth \for a day I start

I was sourcing good meth. Like real good meth.

All-in-all 200mg of meth per day really isn't that high of a dosing regimen, all things considered (even if the purity is +95%). It's not uncommon at all for "addicts" / heavy users to use 200mg+ in a dose without issue.

The fact of the matter is we just don't know exactly what triggers meth psychosis. We just don't. There's evidence it's triggered by neurotoxicity, and then there's evidence that it's triggered by over-expression of BDNF. But we really just don't know the exact rhyme or reason behind it. It's one of the biggest mysteries of meth: How and why does the brain tend to suddenly slip into psychosis after using meth?

 

[thegreenhand]

All-in-all 200mg of meth per day really isn't that high of a dosing regimen

Debatable. You'd never see that much of a comparable dose of dexamph prescribed. Even 25 mg isn't really low dose imo.

The fact of the matter is we just don't know exactly what triggers meth psychosis. We just don't. There's evidence it's triggered by neurotoxicity, and then there's evidence that it's triggered by over-expression of BDNF. But we really just don't know the exact rhyme or reason behind it. It's one of the biggest mysteries of meth: How and why does the brain tend to suddenly slip into psychosis after using meth?

I've always been inclined to think it's largely due to sleep deprivation. That causes psychosis even under sober conditions. I'm sure the neurotoxicity makes things worse too.

As for why it becomes easier to slip into after the first psychotic episode... that is a harder question to answer imo. Arguably it's cognitive in nature. Ofc that will have some sort of neurological underpinning, but a neurochemical explanation (e.g. neurotoxicity) is probably not precise enough to fully elucidate the mechanism. For me psychosis was very much a "verbal" phenomenom in that it was sparked by a thought loop. The inner monologue just couldn't make sense of things after that spiraled.

But my episode was induced by LSD + marijuana so it was quite different than methamph psychosis. Unfortunately, I still sometimes catch myself slipping back into those same thought patterns with too much weed use.

 

[Specified]

My brain is in very fine working order thank you very much!

 

[acklac7]

Debatable. You'd never see that much of a comparable dose of dexamph prescribed. Even 25 mg isn't really low dose imo.

Sorry, I meant to add "for a long-term user"

 

[acklac7]

I've always been inclined to think it's largely due to sleep deprivation.

Not in my experience. For whatever reason, I still slip into psychosis after about two weeks of constant, moderate use. Even when sleeping every night. Even when taking care of my body. I don't understand it. There has to be more to it than sleep deprivation.

As for why it becomes easier to slip into after the first psychotic episode... that is a harder question to answer imo. Arguably it's cognitive in nature. Ofc that will have some sort of neurological underpinning, but a neurochemical explanation (e.g. neurotoxicity) is probably not precise enough to fully elucidate the mechanism.

I almost wonder if it has to do with the brain's white matter wearing out, and leaking, causing something to short-circuit? I know meth has been shown to remodel the brain's white matter, so maybe after a while (and too much use) the white matter begins to wear out and psychosis ensues? Not sure.

 

[neversickanymore]

I wholeheartedly agree. I’m not sure what’s going on with my brain, but for whatever reason I slip into psychosis rather easily? It’s weird, nowadays all it takes is 100mg/point and I slip into psychosis after about 10 days of constant use. I really don’t know what’s behind it, because 100mg isn’t all that much, just the stuff tends to drive me batshit crazy anymore, even in small amounts. Maybe it’s due to the fact I’m bi-polar? I’m not sure…

Its hypo tolerance. Tolerance and substances use is funky. Alcohol, coke and from your account meth are on the list. So tolerance initially requires us to take more and more to achieve the same results. In the end game this can flip flop to a situation where very small dose is needed to produce dramatic effects.

A drunk who starts slurring with the first beer, a cocaine addict thats peaking out the window after a tiny line.

I don't know if it ever reverses, I'm sure its possible, but future enjoyable or successful use will be very problematic if not impossible.

The substance has turned on you.. I would consider finding a replacement as the glory days are likely gone.

 

[thegreenhand]

Not in my experience. For whatever reason, I still slip into psychosis after about two weeks of constant, moderate use. Even when sleeping every night. Even when taking care of my body. I don't understand it. There has to be more to it than sleep deprivation.

Let me offer the possibility that amphetamines simply alter the architecture of sleep such that even 8+ hrs is not as effective as under sober conditions. I will readily admit I don't have any peer reviewed literature on hand to back this up. But i think it's plausible.

I almost wonder if it has to do with the brain's white matter wearing out, and leaking, causing something to short-circuit? I know meth has been shown to remodel the brain's white matter, so maybe after a while (and too much use) the white matter begins to wear out and psychosis ensues? Not sure.

I also think that white matter degradation is too general a mechanism. If anything, I would expect mutliple sclerosis like symptoms before psychosis.